Page 6

It was a beautiful place, but I didn’t like how abandoned everything looked. I’d been to plenty of Scottish castles, but usually there was a gift shop, a cafe, crowds of tourists. A car park at the bare minimum. Kilchurn Castle had none of those, just a rugged, desolate sort of beauty.

Pam led us along the outside of the castle instead of towards the entrance. Parts of the wall had collapsed, leaving piles of stone half covered in grass. Joseph continued ahead until Pam asked him to stop near the base of the tower where the wall was in a fairly good state – meaning it wasn’t crumbling into heaps of rocks.

“Here,” she said.

Without a word, he unfolded the ladder and raised it against the wall.

I followed his gaze upwards.

A stone figure crouched above us, partly hidden by the remains of a small turret. It was much larger than the gargoyles I’d seen on churches. Its wings were folded against its back, and a long tail curved around one leg. Both hands gripped the ledge beneath it.

Despite years of exposure to the weather, the carving was incredibly detailed. Individual strands of hair framed its face. Muscles stood out across its arms and chest. I was too far down to see its expression clearly, but I could make out that it wasn’t a typical grimace or creepy laugh.

The gargoyle didn’t fit in with the state of the castle around it. It was too perfect, too beautiful.

“That’s impressive,” I said into the silence. “Is it original?”

“No, it’s a later addition. The castle was built in the 1400s but we think this one was added in the 1530s.”

Joseph tested the ladder, pressing his weight against the lowest rung.

I turned to Pam. “What does this have to do with my date?”

She smiled, small lines appearing around her eyes. “Before you get to meet your date, I have a teeny-tiny task for you. I want you to climb up the ladder and touch the gargoyle.”

Chapter 2

Sten

They had brought another female. I wanted to groan in disgust.

They were wasting their time.

The first woman Cairn’s friend had brought had touched my arm. The next had pressed both hands against my chest. A third had held my face for so long that I had begun to wish I could move simply to make her stop.

Nothing had happened.

I had felt disappointed, annoyed, frustrated, and very, very violated.

They were touching me and there was nothing I could do to stop them.

I thought I’d found my peace. I’d escaped into my mind, building a world where I could be free, where I could be myself. Cairn had destroyed all that when he’d brought me back into reality. Now I was forced to be awake once more. To feel. To watch the world go by.

It was an alien world. And a terribly boring one at that.

Avians were my only companions, using me as their perch. I remembered a time when they had built a nest below one of my wings, but that was long ago, before I had found a way to sleep. Those avians were long gone. Now their ancestors were flying around me, reminding me of all that I had lost. I still had wings, yet I couldn’t move them. Couldn’t join them in the freedom of the sky. I was stuck here, my body frozen in time and place, cursed to exist without living.

Someone placed the ladder against the wall again.

I felt every impact through the stone surrounding me.

That’s all I could do. Feel. The vibrations. Avians shitting on me. And my own sorrow.

Footsteps climbed towards me.

Another attempt. Another stranger who would touch me and leave while I remained trapped inside the stone.

The footsteps stopped.